Page 95 of Bound to You

He taps the side of my head. “What’s going on in there?”

“I don’t know,” I whisper.

“How was the rest of the conversation?”

“Draining,” I sigh.

“I shouldn’t have left you there by yourself,” he shakes his head.

“It’s okay. I needed to handle it by myself.”

“You shouldn’t have to. I told you that you could rely on me and then I left when you needed support. I won’t make that mistake again.”

I thread my hands through his hair. “It’s okay,” I smile. “The conversation was hard, and it kind of…”

I don’t want to say it to him. Don’t want to say it out loud, but we promised to be more open with each other. I can’t go back on that now just because it’s hard. It’s when it’s hard that it matters the most.

“Talk to me,” he runs a knuckle along my cheek. “Please.”

“It rattled me. I don’t know maybe they’re right,” I blurt out.

His eyebrows knit together. “Right about what? About you going home?”

I shrug in response, not knowing what to say.

“Right about you having to live a life you don’t want to live? I saw you when you first got here Isla, you are not the same person now that you were then. You’re stronger. Don’t let them rattle you. By all means, if you truly believe you should go home, then do it, but make that decision on your own terms. I thought you weren’t letting people dictate what you do anymore?” He unwraps his arms from around me and I’m instantly cold.

“Well, I’m letting you, aren’t I?” I snap.

Hurt flashes across his face. “Are you seriously comparing me to them? When have I ever dictated what you do?”

“I’m considering moving my entire life across the world for you!”

“I never asked you to!” He runs a hand through his hair, exasperated. “I’ve never even asked you to stay here, as much as I wanted to drop to my knees in front of you and beg you not to leave, to take a chance on your life here with me, to tell you that Ilove you and I don’t know how I can ever go back to the man that I was before you came into my life, I never did. I’ve never tried to persuade you for my own benefit. So don’t compare it because it isnotthe same.” His eyes blaze with a fury that has never once been directed at me, and regret instantly floods my system.

His face contorts. “And here I thought that maybe you were starting to think of this place as home, starting to think of me as home.”

My mind is reeling with every word he just spoke, his confession coated with hurt, and I want to take it all away. Take my words back, but I can’t.

“I never said I’m leaving Caio, but everything feels like it’s falling apart and I’m spiraling.” I choke on a sob. “I don’t?—“

“Good evening, everyone!” Stefan’s voice booms through the microphone cutting me off.

Caio hasn’t taken his eyes from mine. He’s searching for something in them, and maybe he finds it because without another word he walks away.

“Let’s get this party started with some auctions, shall we?” Stefan continues.

“Hey,” May grabs my elbow from behind. “Are you okay? What just happened?”

I shake my head, still watching Caio weave his way through the crowd until he’s out of view. “I don’t know.”

My heart falls in my chest at the thought of being separated from him tonight of all nights. I already feel alone in this mess I’ve created for myself, and now I don’t even know what he’s thinking.

“First up, Rafael Deo!” Stefan waves Raf onto the makeshift stage we set up in here last night, he goes up there reluctantly. I promised him a week’s worth of help reorganizing the stock room at the restaurant for this.

“Rafael is the well-known owner and chef at Olive&Vine…“

Ladies mutter around us, but when I look to May beside me, her jaw is tense and her eyes are fixed on the man on the stage. I look back to Rafael and he’s got a shit-eating grin on his face as he looks straight back at her.

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